1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?
Alice Bouwland is my name. I live in Zwolle, a beautiful mediaeval Hanze-town in the middle of Holland. I am working as an executive coach and trainer in communication skills at the architecture department of a university of applied sciences. In 1982 I became a member of the Theosophical Society.
1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?
My label and my story? My name is Jon Knebel and I currently live in the western suburbs of Chicago. I have been a member of the TSA for maybe fifteen years.
2. Are you active in your Lodge/Section and if so, what do you do?
I am active in the TSA at Wheaton, facilitating classes and groups, lecturing and leading workshops nationally. I led a class reading The Mahatma Letters at Wheaton that continued for 2 ½ years. The extensive preparation for these classes eventually led to my recent appointment as chairman of the TSA committee charged with compiling, editing and publishing the personal letters of H. P. Blavatsky.
This project is a continuation of the Collected Writings series begun by Boris de Zirkoff in 1924. The personal letters portion of this series was begun by Dr. John Algeo in 1999, and he published the first volume of this series in 2003. Three or four additional volumes are expected.
I also serve on the boards of directors of the TOS-USA, and of the International Theosophical Conferences, Inc.
3. How did you first learn about Theosophy or come in contact with the Society?
I first began exploring Western and Eastern traditions when I was in high school. During that time I learned of Theosophy, but found it difficult and unappealing. I went on studying physics, religion, philosophy, ancient history and anthropology. I also poked around the New Age stuff in the 60’s and 70’s. When I revisited Theosophy in my 40’s, I found that it formed a wonderful platform onto which my ideas from other teachings and traditions fit nicely.
4. What does Theosophy mean to you?
As my study deepened, I found myself compelled to serve, both in the world and within the Theosophical movement. Theosophy is now becoming a living power in my life. I am learning how to respect all life, all persons, no matter what their beliefs, regardless of their behaviours.
5. What is your favorite Theosophical book and why?
The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett. This book contains the Theosophical teachings as they were first presented, and is itself a wonderful history of the early Theosophical Society.
6. What in your opinion is the biggest challenge the TS is facing at the moment?
The biggest challenge today for all branches of the Theosophical movement is making the teachings accessible and attractive to the general population, young and old, without destroying their potency. Seeing this happen is my greatest wish.
7. Is there anything you would wish for the future of the Theosophical Movement?
My wish for the future is as described above, in question 6.
From the editor:
Opinions and ideas expressed in the mini-interviews are exclusively of those who are being interviewed. They don’t necessarily represent the ideas and opinions of the compilers of Theosophy Forward. The responses of the interviewees are not edited for content. Some contributors give short answers to the questions while others touch upon the subject more elaborately.
1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?
Mr. Halldór Haraldsson, born in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1937. I have been a member of the TS since 1960.
1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?
Gloria Arévalo de Gauggel, I am from Colombia, but I live in Honduras now for 17 years.
Jan Nicolaas Kind – Brazil
[Editor’s note: This article was published in April 2009, during Theosophy Forward’s very first year on the Internet. Time flies, but it is available for all to read in TF’s archives. While I was going over some of the earlier issues of the magazine, this piece caught my attention again because of its relevance. I have rewritten some parts and updated it for a 2014 publication].
“To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” — Marilyn vos Savant an American magazine columnist, author, lecturer, and playwright who rose to fame through her former listing in the Guinness Book of World Records under “Highest IQ.”
Playing the piano with three fingers.
Jan Nicolaas Kind – Brazil
The so-called moderator of the blog/website TheosTalk, once a wonderful source of information, now has gone fully over the top. Impartial participants on this site are no longer welcome as it seems, and the person who calls himself MKR, is primarily occupied with slandering and insulting the current administration in Adyar.
Eldon Tucker
Once upon a time, the website TheosTalk (TT, a service provided to the Theosophical community by Theosophy Network Inc., a tax exempt 501(c) 3 nonprofit corporation), founded in 2000 by Eldon Tucker, was an inspiring meeting place, a sort of global square where Theosophists and others would meet, respectfully exchanging a large range of views and ideas directly or indirectly related to Theosophy. In those early pioneering years, with the internet rapidly developing, TT fulfilled a unique spearhead function. Interesting vivid dialogues and debates would occur and frequently subscribers would hook up with the site, contributing and enthusiastically participating in all that went on there. Although never a participant myself on any social networking site, as that’s not my thing, it was fun and really fascinating to go there and read what others had to share.
Jan Nicolaas Kind – Brazil
Krishnamurti
[“Is there a thinking without the word? When the mind is not cluttered up with words, then thinking is not thinking as we know; but it is an activity without the word, without the symbol; therefore it has no frontier; the word is the frontier. The word creates the limitation, the boundary. And a mind that is not functioning in words, has no limitation; it has no frontiers; it is not bound” (J. Krishnamurti, The Book of Life])
Elsewhere in this issue of Theosophy Forward you’ll find an extensive report on the Naarden Conference and the final version of the Naarden declaration. Words always limit an idea or an expression, so when we look at the words of the Naarden declaration we could say that the text is “perfectly imperfect.” It is not what the ITC board brought forward; it is what that board compiled from the suggestions that were given by all participants.
Jan Nicolaas Kind – Brazil
Jan N. Kind
This editorial was previously published on Theosophy Forward's Facebook page.
[“I think that people who make judgments about other people they don’t even know are shallow, and people who start rumors are shallow, and I really don’t care what shallow people say about me” (Nina LaCour, Hold Still [New York: Dutton Books, Penguin Group, 2009])
What can we actually learn from those who constantly seek conflict and distortion in our Theosophical environment, consequently downgrading any concept of decency we know of, thus selling lies and rumors for truth? Is there indeed anything to be gained from the boring, one-sided, biased and abominable exposes we are regularly confronted with, when we often innocently try to hook up with what are called independent Theosophical discussion sites?
1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?
My name is Aspasia Papadomichelaki; I was born in Athens, Greece where I live to this day. I have been indulging in metaphysical research and activities ever since 1973 and in 1992 I became member of the Greek T.S.
1. What is your name, where are you from and how long you have been a member of The TS?
My name is Carlos Gauggel, I am German and Honduran. I consider both countries my Motherland. I have been an active member of the TS for the past 8 years.
1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?
My name is Wouter A. van Beers and I was born in what now is called Indonesia, but have been living in The Netherlands since 1946. Between 1934 and 1946 I experienced wonderful, but also somber years especially during the Second World War in the former Dutch East-Indies, a Dutch colony which was invaded by Japanese forces in January 1942.
1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?
My name is Nell van Beers and I am from The Netherlands. I first joined the Young Theosophist (YT) in 1961, which consisted of a group of active students in the cities of Delft and Utrecht and was made Secretary of this group. In 1967 I ultimately became a member of the TS-Adyar